CMS m&a study 2020: seller remains king in Europe

According to CMS 12th edition of European M&A Study, Europe continues to be a buoyant market for sellers. The study, one of the most comprehensive of its kind, is based on a proprietary database comprising more than 4,600 deals. In particular, it shows that despite slowing economic growth, geopolitical headwinds and volatile stock markets seller remains king in Europe while industry benefits from artificial intelligence.

In details, the CMS European M&A Study 2020 provides insight into the legal provisions of merger & acquisition agreements, makes comparisons across Europe and with the US, and identifies market trends. As the Head of the CMS corporate and m&a group from Switzerland, Stefan Brunnschweiler, underlines we are seeing demand for deal certainty in the unpredictable macroeconomic context, greater use of clever risk allocation strategies, as well as new cutting-edge technologies benefitting the industry”.

In identifying the primary deal drivers for transactions, CMS revealed that almost half of deals represented buyers entering a new market (46%) or acquisitions of know-how or acqui-hire transactions (41%). The proportion of these transactions both increased since 2018 (32% and 23% respectively). One fifth of the deals represented the acquisition of a competitor. Anyway, a general key finding is that artificial intelligence (AI) and document automation were used in numerous of the reviewed transactions, often leading to significant cost savings.

As for other interesting finding, the study underlines a gradual decline of purchase price adjustments (PPAs) in 45% of all deals, up one-percentage point from the previous year, but significantly behind the average level for the previous three years. Concerning regional differences, the US approach to risk allocation continues to favour buyers. While PPAs remained at 45% in Europe, they featured in 95% of all US deals.

CMS m&a study 2020: seller remains king in Europe

FabioAdmin

Legalcommunity.ch

Launched in 2020 by LC Publishing Group, it is the first digital portal addressed to the Swiss legal market.
In terms of contents, the website focuses on both law firms and in-house legal departments, covering the latest news and rumors on deals and operations (and the related advisors) as well as on lateral hires, moves and new appointments and providing insights, analytical data and opinions on the professions’ main trends and topics (Ai, innovation, etc.).

For further information, please visit the Group’s website www.lcpublishinggroup.com

LC Publishing Group S.p.A. – Via Tolstoi 10 – 20146 Milano – Tel. 0236727659 – C.F./P.IVA 07619210961
REA 1971432 Registro delle Imprese di Milano – Cap. Soc. Euro 50.000,00 i.v.

Copyright 2023 © All rights Reserved. Design by Origami Creative Studio

SHARE

Share on linkedin
Share on twitter
Share on facebook
Share on whatsapp
Share on email
Share on telegram